So I write these things while I am away from you, so that when I come I may not have to be severe in using the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.
So although I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong nor on account of the one who suffered the wrong but in order that your zeal for us might be made known to you before God.
It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart, for all of you are my partners in God’s grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.